What is Legal Separation?

By Marc E. Mitzner Nov. 14, 2010 4:20p

When people are considering divorce, they may want to weigh the differences between divorce versus legal separation. Divorce, also called "dissolution of marriage" or "dissolution of domestic partnership" ends the marriage or domestic partnership. After you and your spouse get a divorce, you will be single and free to marry once again. In a divorce, you can legally seek such things as division of property,spousal support,child custody, and child support. In order for married couples to get a divorce, they are required to meet California's residency requirement.

What are the Terms of Legal Separation?

In a legal separation, you remain married; however you live your life separately from your spouse. You cannot enter into a marriage with somebody else when you are legally separated. Legal separation is most commonly seen with couples who desire to remain married due to religious or moral reasons and in many cases where the spouses need to remain married in order to maintain medical coverage for one of the spouses who have significant medical issues, who cannot otherwise get affordable medical coverage.

In a legal separation, you do not need to meet California's residency requirement in order to file and if you do file, you can later on petition the court for a divorce after the residency requirements have been met. In addition, in a legal separation case, you can request that the judge make orders for matters such as child support, spousal support, custody, visitation, domestic violence restraining orders and any other kind of order that pertains to a divorce case.

If you are considering divorce or legal separation, the advice from a skilled and knowledgeable Orange County divorce attorney can be priceless. Orange County divorce lawyer Marc E. Mitzner has over ten years experience working with couples who face legal separation or divorce in Orange County. He has helped many couples in your situation come to an amicable agreement that benefited his clients in a manner that their goals were successfully accomplished and met.

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